by davids at 2012-11-21 14:23:13
Hi Community,by DonJ at 2012-11-21 14:31:03
I appear to be having an issue with some of the about_* topics in the Powershell v3 help.
I’m running Powershell v3 on Windows 7. I downloaded and was going through Richard Siddaway’s recent workflow presentation that he did for the UK user group. So I was trying the
[code2=powershell]Get-Help about_Workflows[/code2]
Command to get the background help on the topics.
[code2=powershell]Get-Help about_Workflows
Get-Help : Property 'SupportShouldProcess' cannot be found for type
'System.Management.Automation.CmdletBindingAttribute'.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-Help about_Workflows
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: ([Get-Help], RuntimeException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PropertyNotFoundForType,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetHelpCommand[/code2]
So I thought I would try another about_topic
[code2=powershell]Get-Help about_WorkflowCommonParameters
Get-Help : Property 'SupportShouldProcess' cannot be found for type
'System.Management.Automation.CmdletBindingAttribute'.
At line:1 char:1
+ Get-Help about_WorkflowCommonParameters
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : PropertyNotFoundForType,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetHelpCommand[/code2]
[code2=powershell]Get-Help Get-Command[/code2] works as expected.
[code2=powershell]$PSVersionTable
Name Value
---- -----
WSManStackVersion 3.0
PSCompatibleVersions {1.0, 2.0, 3.0}
SerializationVersion 1.1.0.1
BuildVersion 6.2.9200.16398
PSVersion 3.0
CLRVersion 4.0.30319.296
PSRemotingProtocolVersion 2.2[/code2]
I’ve re-run Update-Help and still get the same errors messages about the workflow topics.
Should the workflow help topics be viewable on Windows 7?
They should. I don’t know if all the help has been published as yet. If you’re on a non-US English system, there are some known bugs in Update-Help. But, on my en-us system running Windows 8, about_workflows displays fine.by davids at 2012-11-21 14:48:02
The about_ topics are just text files. If I go to PowerShell installation folder (cd $pshome), and then into the en-US folder, I can see all the text files and XML files. Might be worth looking to see what’s there.
That’s a weird error for Get-Help to throw, though. Can you run a "gcm Get-Help" and verify that you don’t have something overriding the native Get-Help? That you’re trying this in a completely fresh shell with absolutely no modules or snap-ins loading?
OK. Thanks Don. That points me a little closer to what is happening.by DonJ at 2012-11-21 15:08:17
I took a look in the $PSHome and went into the en-US directory
[code2=powershell]dir
Directory: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\en-US
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 7306 about_Aliases.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 16442 about_Arithmetic_Operators.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 9216 about_Arrays.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 22783 about_Assignment_Operators.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 18334 about_Automatic_Variables.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 6802 about_Break.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 10060 about_Command_Precedence.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 10889 about_Command_Syntax.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 29136 about_Comment_Based_Help.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 16586 about_CommonParameters.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 21171 about_Comparison_Operators.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 1290 about_Continue.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 1930 about_Core_Commands.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5764 about_Data_Sections.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 22493 about_Debuggers.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 2429 about_Do.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 11428 about_Environment_Variables.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3499 about_Escape_Characters.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 8395 about_Eventlogs.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 14266 about_Execution_Policies.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5329 about_For.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 9946 about_Foreach.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 18034 about_Format.ps1xml.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 17185 about_Functions.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3510 about_Functions_Advanced.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 9339 about_Functions_Advanced_Methods.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 23638 about_Functions_Advanced_Parameters.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 7880 about_Functions_CmdletBindingAttribute.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 6509 about_Functions_OutputTypeAttribute.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 6577 about_Group_Policy_Settings.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 16251 about_Hash_Tables.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3557 about_History.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3258 about_If.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 12373 about_Jobs.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 14991 about_Job_Details.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 2467 about_Join.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 16823 about_Language_Keywords.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 1597 about_Line_Editing.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 4541 about_Locations.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 2787 about_Logical_Operators.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 7301 about_Methods.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 18628 about_Modules.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3152 about_Objects.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 7863 about_Object_Creation.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 9111 about_Operators.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 6308 about_Operator_Precedence.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 9517 about_Parameters.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 12999 about_Parameters_Default_Values.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 4207 about_Parsing.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5415 about_Path_Syntax.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 19168 about_Pipelines.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 7029 about_PowerShell.exe.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3133 about_PowerShell_Ise.exe.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 65362 about_Preference_Variables.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 12438 about_Profiles.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 8806 about_Prompts.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 12064 about_Properties.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 8990 about_Providers.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 11026 about_PSSessions.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 12542 about_PSSession_Details.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 8158 about_PSSnapins.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 8548 about_Quoting_Rules.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5778 about_Redirection.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 1789 about_Ref.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5542 about_Regular_Expressions.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 8047 about_Remote.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 30074 about_Remote_Disconnected_Sessions.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 22954 about_Remote_FAQ.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 13936 about_Remote_Jobs.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 9184 about_Remote_Output.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 10623 about_Remote_Requirements.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 33557 about_Remote_Troubleshooting.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3858 about_Remote_Variables.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 3539 about_Requires.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 2082 about_Reserved_Words.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5343 about_Return.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 2161 about_Run_With_PowerShell.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 19115 about_Scopes.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 15893 about_Scripts.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 4022 about_Script_Blocks.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 9253 about_Script_Internationalization.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 14699 about_Session_Configurations.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 14372 about_Session_Configuration_Files.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 12392 about_Signing.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 4556 about_Special_Characters.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 10201 about_Splatting.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 10554 about_Split.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 6095 about_Switch.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5195 about_Throw.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 27946 about_Transactions.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 10510 about_Trap.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 7663 about_Try_Catch_Finally.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 23883 about_Types.ps1xml.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 5235 about_Type_Operators.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 15954 about_Updatable_Help.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 13058 about_Variables.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 2435 about_While.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 2749 about_Wildcards.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 22112 about_Windows_PowerShell_3.0.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 12009 about_Windows_PowerShell_ISE.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 4248 about_WMI.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 8903 about_WMI_Cmdlets.help.txt
-a— 03/10/12 5:31 PM 25661 about_WQL.help.txt
-a— 27/09/12 8:44 AM 7420 about_WS-Management_Cmdlets.help.txt
-a— 24/07/12 4:09 AM 3568 default.help.txt
-a— 30/09/12 10:31 PM 145354 Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Diagnostics.dll-help.xml
-a— 30/09/12 10:35 PM 1898787 Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Management.dll-help.xml
-a— 02/10/12 9:13 AM 1697579 Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Utility.dll-help.xml
-a— 30/09/12 10:37 PM 17918 Microsoft.PowerShell.ConsoleHost.dll-help.xml
-a— 30/09/12 10:36 PM 277747 Microsoft.PowerShell.Security.dll-help.xml
-a— 30/09/12 10:35 PM 516765 Microsoft.WSMan.Management.dll-help.xml
-a— 22/08/12 1:10 AM 11264 powershell.exe.mui
-a— 22/08/12 1:08 AM 50176 PSEvents.dll.mui
-a— 22/08/12 1:08 AM 6144 pspluginwkr-v3.dll.mui
-a— 14/07/09 12:24 PM 5632 pspluginwkr.dll.mui
-a— 22/08/12 1:08 AM 4608 pwrshmsg.dll.mui
-a— 08/10/12 1:44 PM 2398385 System.Management.Automation.dll-help.xml[/code2]
Looks to me like the about_workflow*.txt files are all missing.
So I checked if I installed the workflow KB from here http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34595 which I think is all that is required (not sure)?
[code2=powershell]Get-HotFix KB2506143
Source Description HotFixID InstalledBy InstalledOn
------ ----------- -------- ----------- -----------
DFCU-HO-458 Update KB2506143 DFCU\stewend[/code2]
I’ve tried the [code2=powershell]Get-Help about_Workflows[/code2] command from a Powershell v3 console, a Powercli console, and from Powershell Plus with all modules and snapins disabled.
There’s a difference between the Workflow functionality being installed, and the help files being available. The help files don’t install with the functionality; if Update-Help isn’t pulling them down, then you kind of just have to wait until they show up. Or read them online. But installing the hotfix has nothing to do with the help files.by davids at 2012-11-21 17:39:30
If you have a PSWorkflow module (Get-Module -ListAvailable, no need to post the list here <grin>) then the functionality is installed. If you don’t, then it isn’t - and if it isn’t installed, then you’ll never get the help, because Update-Help only grabs help for what functionality is installed.
OK. So I have the workflow module installed. Looks like you are correct and the help files haven’t been released/updated for the PSWorkflow module. The about_Workflow* topics are online, but you currently don’t download them when you run Update-Help.by DonJ at 2012-11-22 06:48:30
I even tried running Update-Help just against the module and it tells me that the latest version is already installed.
I know the Powershell team made the help updatable and there are good reasons for doing it the way they did. I just think that if Powershell v3 is released RTM then there should be a complete help manifest that covers all Microsoft modules.
I guess I will keep an eye out for news of the next update to the help.
Thanks Don for helping me.
I do have the help files, so they’re definitely out there. As I said, there are some known bugs with Update-Help - there’s a patch coming.by DonJ at 2012-11-27 11:44:45
See http://www.powershellmagazine.com/2012/ … agazine%29